Game board and chance means for simulated racing



Dec. 11, 1951 F. R. GRAVES 2,577,961

GAME BOARD AND CHANCE MEANS FOR SIMULATED RACING Filed July 31, 1948 2SI-IEETS--SHEET l dOHS HIVdBU SUIVdHU EN TOR. FRANK R. GRAVES Dec. 11,1951 GRAVES 2,577,961

GAME BOARD AND CHANCE MEANS FOR SIMULATED RACING INVENTOR.

FRAN/(RGRAVES Patented Dec. 11, 1951 UNHTED STATES EPATENT OFFICE GAMEBOARD AND CHANCE MEANS FOR SIMULATED RACING The present inventionrelates to a game and more particularly to a game played by the use of aboard, movable pieces, and some means for determining the extent ofmovement of the Ditti s of the respective players on each play.

In conventional games of this character, only one player moves at atime; and usually the extent of movement on the board of the pieces ofthe different players is determined in successive plays of the game.

Among the objects of the invention are to provide a. game of thecharacter referred to which will be more interesting to the players,create more excitement and be faster in play than conventional games ofthis kind.

Another object of the invention is to provide a game of the generalcharacter mentioned in which all of the players will move on each playof the game.

Other objects of the invention will be apparent hereinafter from thespecification and from the recital of the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a game board laid out according to oneembodiment of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan View of a spinner type indicator such as may be used inplaying my improved game;

Figs. 3, 4 and 5 show cards which may be used with the game board fordetermining the moves of the game in lieu of the spinner type indicator;and

Fig. 6 is a view showing in perspective two pieces or markers that maybe employed in play.- ing the game.

Referring now to the drawings by numerals of reference, it denotes thegame board. This has a rectangular trackway l2 on it which is made upor" rectangular blocks or spaces of four different colors arranged inrotation around the trackway. The diiierently colored blocks or spacesare denoted l3, l4, l5 and [6, respectively. They are here indicated asbeing, respectively, brown, green, red and white, but obviously anysuitable selection of colors may be employed.

The trackway is shown laid out for an automobile race game; and onvarious blocks there are legends such as Repairs Crack-up, etc. andshould a player move on to any such block a penalty may be inflictedagainst him according to the rules of the game. I

The game may be played with a spinner type indicator, such as shown inFig. 2. This indicator comprises a disc '20 and arevoluble pointer 21which is mounted concentric of the disc. The disc is divided into eightsegments 22. Each segment is made up of four arcuate blocks 23, 2.4, .25and 26 which are, respectively, of difierent colors. The colorscorrespond to those used on the trackway of the game board. The arcuateblocks are concentric of the disc; and the colors of these blocks arearranged in the same order in all the. segments. As illustrated, theinnermost blocks 23 are brown; the next 24 are white; the next 25 arered; and the outermost 26 are green.

The game may be played by as many as eight players simultaneously. Theymay play individually or as partners. To keep track of the progress ofplay numbered markers are provided. These may be discs, such as shown at3,0 in Fig, 6, or they may for an automobile race game be in the form ofminiature automobiles, or for an aeroplane race game be in the form ofminiature aeroplanes, etc. There are eight markers provided, numbered 1to 8 inclusive, Only two of the markers are shown in Fig. 6.

The arcuate blocks 23, 24, 25 and 26 of disc 2% are numbered withnumbers corresponding to the numbers of the markers. Preferably eacharcuate block has two numerals on it; and each segment 22 contains allof the numbers 1 to 8 so that when the pointer 21 registers with asegment, it registers with numbers corresponding to the numbers of allthe markers 30. The numbers are arranged in different order and in diffe t combinations o the d ff ent egment Z2.-

To p ay t e me h player first s l cts ne f t e n mb d k s 3i); an all hema ers are placed in the block 28 (Fig. 1) of the trackway which denotesboth the start and the finish of the game. Then one of the players spinsthe pointer 2|. Each player notes the color, on which his number appearswithin the segment 22. of disc 20, at which the pointer stops; and hemoves his marker to the block on the traclrwa-y l2 whose colorcorresponds to the color indicated by the pointer. Thus i the pointerstops where shown in Fig. 2, players Nos. 6 and 7 would move theirmarkers to the green block M of the track,- way nearest the startingblock 28.; players Nos. 5 and 8 would move their markers to the redblock l5 nearest the starting block; players Nos. 2 a would move theimark rs t the t white block l6; and players Nos. 1 and 3 would movetheir markers to the first "brown block 13 of the trackway.

n her play r t n spins he Poin er ZLah the players again advance theirmarkers as fill l" mined by the pointer when it stops. If a player landson a block marked Repairs he may be required to move back to the nearestspaced-esignated Repair shop, with a loss of play on the next spin; andif a player lands on a block marked Crack-up he may be required toabandon the race, that is, to drop out of the game; or the penalties maytake other forms. For an automobile race game, ordinarily the playerswill be required to encircle the track a plurality of times before thegame is completed. The player first to cross the finish line afterhaving completed the required number of turns around the track is thewinner. If more than one player crosses the finish line on a spin, thenthe one who has progressed the farthest beyond that line may bedesignated the winnenor an additional spin may be made.

Instead of using a spinner to determine the moves, a deck of cards maybe employed for this purpose. These cards will be like those shown inFigs. 3 to 5 inclusive. Each card 35 has two sets of four colored blocks36, 31, 38 and 39 on it. The

colors of the blocks in each set correspond to the colors of the blocksof the trackway of the game board. Thus blocks 36 may be brown, blocks31 white, blocks 38 red, andblocks 39 green. The blocks bear numeralscorresponding to the numbers of the markers used in the game andpreferably each block has two numerals on it. Each set of blocks on eachcard contains the numerals 1 to 8 and the numerals have the samearrangement on the two sets of blocks of a card. The two sets of blocksare provided on each card simply for convenience so that the cards canreadily be read by all players when they are laid face up on the playingtable.

All of the cards have their colored blocks or spaces 36, 31, 38 and 39in the same order but the different cards 35 of the pack have thenumerals 1 to 8 arranged on them in different order and in difierentcombinations. A pack'may consist of twenty-eight or more cards.

To play the game with cards, the different players select their markers.Then'one of the players shuiiles the cards and places them in a pileface down on the game table. One player then draws the top card oif thepack and lays it face up on the table. Each player notes the coloredspace on the card in which the number of his marker appears and advanceshis marker accordingly from the starting point on the game board to thefirst block on the track which is of the same color. The players thenalternate in taking cards oil the top of the pack until the game iscompleted. The same rules may be used as when the spinner is employed.

With either the spinner or the cards it will be seen that all playersmove simultaneously on a spin of the pointer or a turn of a card. Thismakes the play of the race more interesting, more exciting and faster.Obviously, the invention is not restricted to a game simulating anautomobile race. Various other races may be simulated also. Thus, thetype of trackway shown in Fig. i might be used for a horse-race gamewith suitable legends such as Spi1l," etc. substituted for Repairs,etc., to indicate points where penalties are applied. The game otherwisecould be played as described, the markers representing horses instead ofautomobiles. In a horse-race game, however, usually the play will beonly once around the track.

The same game board can, if desired, be provided with legends suitablefor playing different racing games. Thus, the legends suitable for bothhorse-races and automobile races may be marked on the same trackway andthe trackway used at will to play either a horse-race or an automobilerace game. The invention is not restricted, however, to use with a gameboard having a rectangular type trackway such as shown in Fig. l. Thetrackway may be of any desired form. For instance, for an aeroplane racegame it might be more or less straight representing a cross-countryflight, and detours may be provided from the straight track to represent"Weather fronts" or other hazards and provide penalties similar to thoseinflicted in the game shown.

In all cases, regardless of the type of game, the same basic principlewill be employed of all players moving simultaneously, each playermoving on the game board in accordance with the color shown on theindicating means for the number of that player.

In general it may be said, then, that while the invention has beendescribed in connection with particular embodiments thereof it iscapable of further modification, and this application is intended tocover any variations, uses or adaptations of the invention, followingthe principles of the invention and including such departures from thepresent disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the artto which the invention pertains and as may be applied to the essentialfeatures hereinbefore set forth and as fall within the scope of theinvention or the limits of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a game, the combination with a game board having a trackwaythereon comprising a plurality of successively differently coloredspaces arranged in rotation and forming a course of travel for aplurality of playing pieces, of a chance device for determining themovement of said pieces, said chance device comprising a disc and apointer rotatably mounted on the disc, said disc being divided into aplurality of segments and each segment being divided into a plurality ofarcuate blocks which are concentric with the axis of the pointer andwhich are differently colored corresponding to the colors of the spacesof the trackway, the number of said blocks in each segment equalling thenumber of different colors employed on the spaces of said trackway, andeach of said blocks having different indicia thereon to designatedifferent playing pieces.

2. In a game, the combination with a game board having a trackwaythereon comprising a plurality of successively differently coloredspaces arranged in rotation and forming a course 01' travel for aplurality of playing pieces, of a chance device for determining themovement of said pieces, said chance device comprising a pack oi. cards,each of which has a plurality of blocks thereon corresponding in numberto the number of different colors of the spaces on the trackway, saidblocks being differently colored to correspond to the colors of thespaces of the trackway, each of said blocks having indicia thereon todesignate different playing pieces, the different indicia being arrangeddifierently on the diflferent blocks or the different cards.

3. In a game, the combination with a game board having an endlesstrackway thereon comprising a plurality of successively diiferentlycolored spaces arranged in rotation around the trackway and forming acourse of travel for a plurality of differently numbered playing pieces,of a chance device for determining the movement of said pieces, saidchance device comprising a plurality of similar parts, each of which hasa plurality of blocks equal in number to the number of colors employedon the spaces of the trackway, said blocks being differently colored tocorrespond to the colors of the spaces of the trackway and differentblocks being difierently numbered to correspond to the numbers of thepieces, the ferent parts all having the same number of colored blockssimilarly arranged but the order of numbering of the blocks beingdifierent on different parts.

4. A game comprising a board having a track way thereon comprising aplurality of successively differently colored spaces arranged inrotation, movable pieces adapted to be moved over said trackway, and achance device for controlling the movement of the pieces, said piecesbeing diiierently numbered, and said chance device comprising aplurality of parts, each part being provided with a number of blocks ofdifferent colors corresponding in number and color to the diiferentcolors of the traclrway, said blocks being arranged in the same order ofcolors on all the parts of the chance device, and like-colored blocks ofthe different parts being differently numbered with numberscorresponding to the numbers of the different pieces.

5. In a game, the combination with a game board having a trackwaythereon comprising a plurality of spaces that have successivelydifferent indicia and forming a course of travel for a plurality ofdifferent playing pieces, the different in dicia being repeated aplurality of times on the spaces around the trackway, of a chance devicefor controlling the movement of the pieces, said. chance devicecomprising a plurality of parts, each of said parts having a pluralityof spaces equal in number to the number of the different indiciaemployed on the spaces of the trackway, the spaces of the chance devicebearing, respectively, indicia corresponding to the indicia of thespaces of the trackway, like spaces of diiierent parts of the chancedevice having, respectively, also difierent indicia designating thedifierent playing pieces, and each part of the chance device bearing onthe total of its spaces all of the indicia designating the difierentplaying pieces.

6. In a game, the combination with a game board having a trackwaythereon comprising a plurality of spaces that have successivelydifferent indicia and forming a course of travel for a plurality ofdifferent playing pieces, the different indicia being repeated aplurality of times around the trackway, of a chance device forcontrolling the movement of the pieces, said chance device comprising adisc and a pointer rotatably mounted thereon, said disc having aplurality of different segments and each segment having a plurality ofdifierent blocks concentric to the axis of said pointer, the number ofblocks in each segment equalling the number of different indiciaemployed on the trackway, the different blocks of each segment bearingindicia corresponding to the different indicia of the trackway and alsoseparate diiferent indicia designating the different playing pieces, oneset of such indicia, at least, being arranged differently on thedifferent segments, and each segment bearing on the total of its blocksall of the two separate sets of indicia.

7. In a game, the combination with a game board having a trackwaythereon comprising a plurality of spaces that have successivelydifierent indicia and forming a course of travel for a plurality ofdifierent playing pieces, of a chance device for controlling themovement of the pieces. said chance device comprising a pack of cards,each of which has a plurality of different spaces equal in number to thenumber of different indicia employed on the spaces of said trackway, thedifferent spaces of each card bearing different indicia corresponding tothe different indicia of the trackway and also different indiciadesignating the different playing pieces, said two sets of indicia beingarranged differently on different cards of the pack.

3. In a game, the combination with a game board having a trackwaythereon comprising a plurality of successively differently coloredspaces arranged in rotation and forming a course of travel for aplurality of playing pieces, of a chance device for determining themovement of said pieces, said chance device comprising a disc and apointer rotatably mounted on the disc, said disc being divided into aplurality of segments and each segment being divided into a plurality ofarcuate blocks which are concentric with theaxis of said pointer andwhich are equal in number to the number of diiferent colors employed onthe spaces of said trackway and which are differently coloredcorresponding to the colors of the spaces of the trackway, and which aredisposed, respectively, at different radial distances from the axis ofthe pointer, each of said blocks having diiferent indicia thereon todesignate different playing pieces, the colors of the blocks beingarranged in the same order on all of the segments but likecolored blocksof difierent segments bearing different indicia.

9. In a game, the combination with a game board having a trackwaythereon comprising a plurality of successively differently coloredspaces that are arranged in rotation, and a plurality of playing piecesmovable over said trackway and having, respectively, different indicia,of a chance device comprising a pack of cards, each of which has aplurality of spaces thereon, corresponding in number to the number ofcolors on the trackway and colored, respectively, to correspond to thecolors of the spaces of the trackway, each space of each card alsobearing different indicia corresponding, respectively, to the differentplaying pieces, the colored spaces being arranged in the same order onall the cards but the difierent indicia being arranged difierently onthe different spaces of the difierent cards.

FRANK R. GRAVES.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

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